A Zionist terrorist planned to assassinate Winston Churchill in order to secure a Jewish state, MI5 records show.

Eliyahu Bet-Zuri suggested sending agents of the Stern Gang, a terrorist group dedicated to forcing the British out of Palestine, to London to kill the prime minister.

MI5 was concerned that Jewish extremists might try to assassinate other leading British politicians, in particular the post-war foreign secretary Ernest Bevin, files released to the National Archives reveal.

Major James Robertson, from the agency's Middle East section, said threats made by Bet-Zuri in November 1944 were disclosed by another member of the Stern Gang who was arrested in April 1945.

The suspect revealed: "As soon as he [Bet-Zuri] returned to Stern Group headquarters he proposed to suggest a plan for the assassination of highly placed British political personalities, including Mr Churchill, for which purpose emissaries should be sent to London."

But Maj Robertson noted: "The above information does not, as you will see, amount to very much.